Low Level Air Plane - Chain Fly Over

Neat fly over of the Waupaca Chain O' Lakes -  You Tube video taken at a low level.  Click Here

Go South, Go South - Will These Geese Get Froze Into Miner Lake

Proposed Legislation Seeks to Modify Pier Regulations ... Again

By: From Wisconsin Realtors Association by Tom Larson VP of Legal & Public Affairs for the Wisconsin Realtors Association

As part of Gov. Walker’s special session on jobs, legislation was introduced that seeks to streamline the permitting process and simplify regulations related to activities near navigable waterways. This legislation, SS AB 24/SS SB 24, makes a number of modifications important to waterfront property owners, including simplifying the pier grandfathering standards, protecting the ability of waterfront property owners to place a pier, and allowing unlimited maintenance and repair to wet boathouses.

Simplifying Pier Grandfathering Standards

Since the Pier Protection Act (2007 Wisconsin Act 204) was enacted into law in 2008, waterfront property owners have been confused about the pier grandfathering standards. The following is a list of pier regulations that have caused the most confusion:

•Location of platforms: If the platform is located near the shore, in the middle of the pier, five feet from the end of pier or anywhere else except at the very end of the pier, the platform is illegal and the pier cannot be grandfathered.

•Size of platforms (existing piers): If the platform is 12-by-20 feet or 240 square feet, the pier cannot be grandfathered. However, if the platform is 10-by-30 feet or 300 square feet, the pier can be grandfathered.

•Size of platforms (new piers): To add even more confusion, platforms on new piers have no overall square foot limitations. The only limitation is that they can be no wider than eight feet and cannot interfere with your neighbor’s riparian rights. As a result, a new pier can have a platform that is larger with more square footage than an existing grandfathered pier.

•Registration requirement: Requiring property owners to register their piers with the DNR to be grandfathered has been unsuccessful. During the last three years, less than half of the estimated 8 to 10,000 piers required to register with the DNR actually did. Those owners that did register often experienced significant processing delays, up to nine months, and experienced confusion regarding where the form can be filed. The law allows the form to be filed with the DNR or local registers of deeds.

SS AB 24/SS SB 24 clarifies the law by:

1.Grandfathering all piers placed before the effective date of the bill.

2.Allowing new piers to be placed without a permit if the surface area of the platform does not exceed 200 square feet, with no dimensional requirements or limits as to where the platform may be located on the pier.

3.Eliminating the registration requirement.

Right to Place a Pier

For over 140 years, Wisconsin courts have recognized that waterfront property owners have a right to place a pier. This right to place a reasonably sized pier without a permit has been codified in the Wisconsin Statutes. However under current pier regulations, this right does not apply if the pier is located in an area of special natural resource interest (ASNRI). If a property is located in an ANSRI, the owner must obtain a general permit in order to place a pier, which means that the property owner is not guaranteed the right to place a pier.

•The definition of ASNRI is overly broad. The definition of ASNRI includes any “area that possesses significant scientific value, as identified by the DNR.” This definition is vague and gives the DNR the discretion to designate any area to be an ASNRI. In fact, the term has been interpreted to mean not just a specific area in a lake, but the entire lake in some cases. As a result, property owners are being forced to go through a general permit process and are uncertain as to whether they can place a pier.

SS AB 24/SS SB 24 clarifies that the DNR may impose conditions on the location, design, construction and installation of a pier located in ASNRI waters, but the DNR may not prohibit the owner from placing a pier. This provision is intended to allow the DNR to determine the size, location and design of a pier to avoid any adverse impacts to sensitive areas like fish spawning areas and other sensitive habitats, but also protects the right of waterfront property owners to place a pier to access the waterway.

Unlimited Maintenance and Repair of Boathouses - Under current law, a limit is placed on the ability of property owners to maintain and repair boathouses located below the OHWM. The limit is equal to 50 percent of the assessed value of the boathouse, which is intended to eventually eliminate these boathouses by forcing them to fall into disrepair.

The “50 percent rule” has been unfair to property owners because it applies retroactively to existing boathouses that were legal when originally constructed. Moreover, the rule has proven difficult to enforce because it is almost impossible for county zoning administrators to keep track of each dollar spent on necessary paint, boards and roofing shingles. As a result, it encourages property owners to be dishonest about what they have spent on repairs and maintenance.

SS AB 24/SS SB 24 eliminates the 50 percent rule and allows unlimited maintenance and repair to these existing boathouses that were constructed before 1979. This would allow property owners to “keep what they have” but does not allow the boathouses to be expanded. Moreover, allowing unlimited maintenance and repairs to existing, nonconforming boathouses would make these regulations consistent with recent changes to Wisconsin’s Shoreland Zoning Regulations (Wis. Admin. Code Ch. NR 115) which eliminated application of the 50 percent rule to nonconforming structures and now allows unlimited maintenance and repairs to these structures.

Ice Finally Forms on the Waupaca Chain O' Lakes

As usual, Bruce at Becker Marine got the last of his boats out of the water just before the ice formed on Limekiln Lake last night.  If you were up very early or if you stayed up very late and lived on the lakes, you saw the almost full moan shinning across the newly formed, crystal clear ice.  I was still in bed but, my wife said it was a neat thing to see, looking west across Miner Lake as the moon went down.

Chain Access Property Sells

This 3 bedroom home on Crestwood Drive, off of Hwy 54, sold in November. The property is not a waterfront home but does have deeded access to Otter Lake on the Waupaca Chain O' Lakes. There are many very nice homes on Crestwood Drive with this same type of access to the Chain. Most recently, the property was listed for $250,000.

New House in the Neighborhood

A beautiful new house is being constructed by Waupaca Strongwood Log Homes, right next door to our home. We are having a wonderful time watching it be built.  Thad Marcom, owner of Strongwood, called when the project first started, to say it might get ugly at times with trucks blocking our narrow road and our driveway. Thad and all his contractors have been great to work with as they have worked very well with all the neighbors! We even let Thad and his contractors use our yard to build pieces and parts for the new home and to store material. Everyone in the neighborhood is having fun watching….